Beyond survival: reclaiming self after leaving an abusive male partner.

Research on the process of leaving an abusive male partner has focused on surviving abuse and the crisis of leaving. Little is known about the experience of women who have left abusive male partners and not gone back. In this feminist grounded theory study of women leaving abusive partners, the researchers discovered the basic social-psychological process of reclaiming self in which women voyaged through 4 stages: counteracting abuse, breaking free, not going back, and moving on. The focus of this paper is the last stage, moving on, during which women move beyond framing their lives as survivors of an abusive relationship through the processes of figuring it out, putting it in its rightful place, launching new relationships, and taking on a new image. The findings extend our knowledge of the leaving process by delineating the ways in which the abuse experience and the survival process are displaced as the centre of the woman's intra-psychic, interpersonal, and social existence. Questions are raised about how nurses and other health professionals can avoid revictimizing women who have moved on.

Connected and disconnected support: the impact on the caregiving process in Alzheimer's disease.

The findings of this grounded theory study of Eastern Canadian family caregiving for persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) provide additional evidence that the presence of both formal and informal social support often fails to make caregiving easier. At family, community, and professional levels, caregiver perception of the helpfulness of support in meeting needs emerged as the indicator of whether support is connected or disconnected. In this paper, we demonstrate and discuss the impact of connected and disconnected support on caregiver progression on the continuum from intimacy to alienation in the process of becoming strangers, the basic social process identified in the study. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Precarious ordering: toward a formal theory of women's caring.

Given the current societal and political trends toward increasing demands on women to provide care, a conceptualization of caring that captures the common processes of diverse women's caring experiences, and makes the consequences of caring for women's health visible, is critical for the development of a health and social policy that is responsive to women. The findings of this feminist grounded theory study go beyond the current theoretical understandings of women's caring, framed as either burden or fulfilment. The complex strategies women use to manage the dissonance created by competing and changing caring demands are revealed as a process I have named precarious ordering. This middle range theory demonstrates the power and resilience in women's management through the interdependent processes of setting boundaries, negotiating, and repatterning care. In addition, the method of theoretical sampling used in this study is explicated to move toward a formal theory applicable to diverse women's caring in a wide range of health, illness, and developmental situations.

Negotiating with helping systems: an example of grounded theory evolving through emergent fit.

A strength of substantive grounded theories is that they are modifiable. Yet, little attention is given in the research literature to the evolution of grounded theories through the process of emergent fit. In this article, emergent fit is discussed, and the evolution of the theoretical understanding of relationships with helping systems is provided as an example. In a feminist grounded-theory study of women's caring, emergent fit with existing inductive research on health care relationships resulted in a framework of negotiating, which includes four strategies: reframing responsibility, becoming an expert, harnessing resources, and taking on more. This explanatory model demonstrates how the use of emergent fit can avoid the generation of isolated theories and contribute to knowledge accumulation by producing a substantive theory with wider applicability.

Repatterning care: women's proactive management of family caregiving demands.

Caregiving frequently is framed as a family issue when, in practice, women bear the primary responsibility. The goal of this feminist grounded theory study of women's caring was to explain the complex process of family caring by women within the current context of health and social reform. One finding of this study was that women use a process of repatterning, that is, reorganizing caring activities, to reduce or overcome the negative effects of caring demands. These findings make visible both the losses and gains of caring women as they learn and employ the expert strategies of anticipating, setting ground rules, juggling time, and relinquishing and replenishing. These findings draw attention to the complexity of caring and provide direction for health professionals in their work with individuals and families and in lobbying for necessary resources.

Cytological comparison of leaves and stems of Prunus avium L. shoots cultured on a solid medium with agar or gelrite.

An axillary proliferating clone of Prunus avium L. was subcultured every four weeks on solid MS medium with agar as the gelling agent. Vitrification (hyperhydricity) of shoots was induced in one four week cycle with the same medium except that agar was replaced by gelrite. During culture on the vitrifying medium, the water content of the shoots progressively increased with a parallel decrease in chlorophyll content. Cytological differences between the leaves and stems of the vitrified and normal shoots were detected by light and electron (both transmission and scanning) microscopy. Leaves of vitrified shoots were characterized by lower number of chloroplasts in the palisade parenchyma and by a defective cuticle. The stems of vitrified shoots had a less developed and lignifled xylem tissue, lacked sclerenchymatic areas and showed hypertrophy of the cortical parenchyma. More intense vacuolar activity with evaginations of the chloroplast envelope into the vacuole was noted in cells of vitrified leaves.

Chemical modification of titanium surfaces for covalent attachment of biological molecules.

The surface of implantable biomaterials is in direct contact with the host tissue and plays a critical role in determining biocompatibility. In order to improve the integration of implants, it is desirable to control interfacial reactions such that nonspecific adsorption of proteins is minimized and tissue-healing phenomena can be controlled. In this regard, our goal has been do develop a method to functionalize oxidized titanium surfaces by the covalent immobilization of bioactive organic molecules. Titanium first was chemically treated with a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide to eliminate surface contaminants and to produce a consistent and reproducible titanium oxide surface layer. An intermediary aminoalkylsilane spacer molecule was then covalently linked to the oxide layer, followed by the covalent binding of either alkaline phosphatase or albumin to the free terminal NH2 groups using glutaraldehyde as a coupling agent. Surface analyses following coating procedures consisted of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Enzymatic activity of coupled alkaline phosphatase was assayed colorimetrically, and surface coverage by bound albumin was evaluated by SEM visualization of colloidal gold immunolabeling. Our results indicate that the linkage of the aminoalkylsilane to the oxidized surface is stable and that bound proteins such alkaline phosphatase and albumin retain their enzymatic activity and antigenicity, respectively. The density of immunolabeling for albumin suggests that the binding and surface coverage obtained is in excess of what would be expected for inducing biological activity. In conclusion, this method offers the possibility of covalently linking selected molecules with known biological activity to oxidized titanium surfaces in order to guide and promote the tissue healing that occurs during implant integration in bone and soft tissues.

Setting boundaries: a strategy for precarious ordering of women's caring demands.

Under the conditions of health care reform, women increasingly are being called upon to assume caring responsibilities. There is little research about the process of women's caring. The findings of this feminist grounded theory study of women caring in diverse situations reveal the strategies women use to manage the dissonance created by caring demands. The strategy of setting boundaries, and subprocesses of determining legitimacy and attending to one's own voice provide an explanation of the processes employed by women to limit the number and extent of caring demands and to draw on self-knowledge to order their caring. This explanatory framework has potential to guide the practice of nurses and other health professionals working with women caring for themselves and others. In addition, these findings contribute to understanding the place of reciprocity, commitment, and affection in the phenomena of caring.

Mycobacterium smegmatis infection in a healthy woman following a facelift: case report and review of the literature.

In a 35-year-old female HIV-negative patient a facelift was followed by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa wound infection. The infection persisted despite treatment with ciprofloxacin, and an additional bacteriological wound examination revealed Mycobacterium smegmatis as the causative agent. Combination therapy with ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and amikacin led to a slow healing process without the need for further surgical intervention. A relapse 6 months after initial therapy was successfully treated with local measures. Infection with M. smegmatis might have come about by contaminated intraoperative liquids or the application of lipid creams to the open wound. However, microbiological examination of potential sources remained negative. Infection caused by M. smegmatis following plastic surgery should be considered in patients with spontaneous ulceration and violaceous discoloration of the skin adjacent to the surgical wound. Prolonged antibiotic therapy and possibly repeat surgical interventions may become necessary to treat this rare infection.

Illuminating environmental influences on women's caring.

Current health care reform is resulting in increasing demands on women to care for others. Little is known about the process of women's caring or the effects of caring on women. This feminist grounded theory study resulted in a substantive theory that explains how women manage the problematic aspects of caring and explicates the ways that environment influences women's responses to caring demands. Of particular concern is the evidence that the existing social structure creates and intensifies problems for women caring. The discussion considers the implications of the findings for health policy and nursing practice.

Fraying connections of caring women: an exemplar of including difference in the development of explanatory frameworks.

While research exploring diverse groups enhances understanding of their unique perspectives and experiences, it also contributes to the exclusion of such groups from mainstream frameworks and solutions. The feminist grounded theory method allows for inclusion of marginalized groups through theoretical sensitivity to feminist theory and theoretical sampling. This paper demonstrates how this approach results in an explanatory framework that accounts for diverse realities in a study of women's caring. Fraying connections were identified as women's initial response to competing and changing caring demands. The range of dimensions and properties of fraying connections was identified through theoretical sampling guided by the emerging themes and theoretical sensitivity to issues of gender, culture, age, ability, class, and sexual orientation.

Origin of the Mesozoa inferred from 18S rRNA gene sequences.

The phylum Mesozoa comprises small, simply organized wormlike parasites of marine invertebrates and is composed of two classes, the Rhombozoa and the Orthonectida. The origin of Mesozoa is uncertain; they are classically considered either as degenerate turbellarians or as primitive multicellular animals related to ciliated protists. In order to precisely determine the phylogenetic position of this group we sequenced the complete 18S rRNA gene of one rhombozoid, Dicyema sp., and one orthonectid, Rhopalura ophiocomae. The sequence analysis shows that the Mesozoa branch early in the animal evolution, closely to nematodes and myxozoans. Our data indicate probably separate origins of rhombozoids and orthonectids, suggesting that their placement in the same phylum needs to be revised.

Counteracting abuse and breaking free: the process of leaving revealed through women's voices.

In a feminist, grounded-theory study, we interviewed rural survivors of abusive relationships to discover a substantive theory to explain the process of leaving. The central process for survivors was reclaiming self. In this article, we discuss the initial stages of reclaiming self: counteracting abuse and breaking free. Our findings reveal that the abused women were not passive victims. From the beginning, they counteracted abuse by relinquishing parts of self, minimizing abuse, and fortifying their defenses. The work of counteracting abuse prepared the survivor for testing the exits in the process of breaking free. These findings support the view of abused women as survivors and clearly demonstrate the societal infrastructure required to support women's efforts to counteract abuse until they have acquired the strength and resources to leave. In addition, questions are raised about the roles of lay and professional helpers in facilitating and inhibiting the process of reclaiming self.

Effects of ingested phytoecdysteroids in the female soft tick Ornithodoros moubata.

The effects of the ingestion of some phytoecdysteroids were studied in the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata. Supernumerary moulting and malformations of first leg pairs were obtained with 22-oxo-20-hydroxy-ecdysone, 20-hydroxyecdysone-22-acetate, and 20-hydroxyecdysone-22-benzoate. Egg-yield was reduced with 20-hydroxyecdysone-22-acetate and carthamosterone. Finally, drying-out of eggs was observed with carthamosterone and 22-deoxy-20,26-dihydroxyecdysone. In addition, we demonstrated that there is a correlation between the number of completed gonotrophic cycles and the impossibility of inducing supernumerary moulting.

Professionalism and the evolution of nursing as a discipline: a feminist perspective.

The evolution of nursing knowledge and nursing as a practice discipline has been stunted by the quest for professionalism. Liberal and socialist feminist theory clarifies the hazards inherent in the masculine institution of professionalism for a predominately female discipline. Socialist feminist theoretical perspectives facilitate a vision of nursing that includes altering social structure such that caring is valued.

A feminist approach to concept analysis.

Concept analysis is an important device for clarifying the meaning of concepts and the foundations of nursing theory, research, and practice. Exploration of traditional approaches to concept analysis reveals the limitations of these methods for contextual analysis that acknowledges the social construction of the concept and acknowledges gender, class, and racial bias. Concept analysis conducted from a feminist perspective overcomes these weaknesses and becomes a powerful tool for the development of nursing knowledge.

Becoming strangers: the changing family caregiving relationship in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer-type dementia (AD) is an insidious pervasive debilitating disorder that destroys the affected person's capacity for self-care. In this grounded theory study, we explored the reciprocal process of becoming strangers in which eastern Canadian family caregivers and care recipients with AD interact on a continuum from intimacy to alienation through dimensions of dawning, holding on and letting go. The findings illuminate the experiences of family members who struggle on a daily basis with their commitment to the person they knew and their increasing detachment from the stranger that person has become. With the increasing emphasis on home care, these findings offer insights for individual care and health policy development.

Feminist critique: searching for meaning in research.

Feminist critique is presented as an important method for examination of prior knowledge for androcentric and ethnocentric bias in all aspects of knowledge development, from theoretical underpinnings through the steps of the research process. The history and implications for using feminist critique as a mode of inquiry for nursing science are developed. In addition, pragmatic information for the conduct of feminist critique is provided.